Disgraced racist LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling was “a worm” back in the ’80s, too, an old foe claims.
Sterling tried to wiggle out of rewarding a contest winner in 1981, lawyer Michael Spilger, 66, told The Post.
“The money wasn’t a big deal — but the guy was a worm,” Spilger said Saturday.
Sterling had held a free-throw contest for $1,000, which Spilger won, he said.
But when he tried to collect, the wealthy cheapskate backed out of the deal, Spilger claims, offering a five-day stay at a hotel in Puerto Rico — without airfare.
Spilger confronted Sterling, demanding his money — and then filed a lawsuit, using a flier Sterling had sent touting the cash prize as evidence, Spilger said.
Sterling eventually paid up, but he made himself clear at a party a couple years later, Spilger said.
“He looked at me and said, ‘What you did was reprehensible.’ I’ll never forget that. It embarrassed him.”